Technical Difficulties
by 4810
Summary: Perpetually single Yusei Fudo receives a request from Clear Mind Industries to beta test their new state-of-the-art android lover. Intrigued by the technology and certain he could never fall in love with a robot, Yusei accepts. Toolshipping AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Technical Difficulties

**Rating: **PG-13

**Pairings: **Bruno/Yusei (main), Jack/Yusei (sub-pairing)

**Author's Notes: **So, I wanted to write a Toolshipping AU, since there is only so much to work with in the anime, but I also wanted to mirror canon as much as I possibly could. Thus, Bruno still needed to be a robot. Anyway, the solution I came up with is a Zettai Kareshi/Absolute Boyfriend parody. I watched the drama, but never saw the anime/manga, but as I only want to borrow the premise, this is probably fortunate. Basically, I want to use the idea of a robot lover, but not make it a total rip off.

* * *

For as long as anyone had known him, Fudo Yusei had been enamored with technology. Growing up in the slums of Satellite, the 'bad part of town', he'd never had the exposure to brand new, state of the art gadgets that the people who lived in the high class areas of Neo Domino, like Tops, had. Back then, he'd had to make do with rifling through the trash from the city, salvaging half-dead batteries battered radios and picking apart old, beat-up televisions. But nonetheless, he had loved to fiddle with the meager pickings available to him, and he'd been that way ever since he'd learned to stand on two feet.

"It's not surprising," his foster mother, Martha, often told him. "You get it from your father. Dr. Fudo used to love technology too. You're just like he was."

Things were different now. Yusei had always been a bright child, quickly learning to read and write once Martha took him in after his parents' untimely deaths. His natural aptitude with mechanics helped him through life, into an engineering scholarship at one of Neo-Domino's leading universities and out the other end as the top student of all his classes. Though he never had and probably never would think of himself that way, he was a born entrepreneur, and upon graduating quickly founded a successful repair business, and the rest was history.

* * *

"You know where else you could apply those problem solving skills of yours, don't you," Jack told Yusei from his position on the couch as Yusei crouched in front of Jack's TV.

Yusei carefully plucked the burnt-out wire from the machine, concentration fully on the task at hand and not replying to Jack until the delicate operations were out of the way. Once everything was joined up the way it was supposed to be, he finally responded.

"The bike engine I'm working on sounds a little rough. I should probably fix that, or it will start to grate on my nerves."

Jack's beautifully manicured eyebrows knitted together in frustration. "Damnit, Yusei. You're supposed to be the smart one here, so stop playing dumb."

He was rewarded with a barely audible sigh, and a click as the pieces of his television's frame were slotted back into place.

"I promise I'll go and visit Martha soon and let her know I'm not dying of loneliness. I've had a lot to do recently, and no free time, but I'll try and make some next week."

Jack sighed, slouching back into the embrace of his couch cushions, watching Yusei plug the TV back into the wall. He hit the power button and the machine fizzed to life, picture and sound crystal clear, in stark contrast with the distorted, silent state it had been in for the previous two days. As per usual, Yusei Fudo has managed to perform a successful seemingly effortless repair.

"You know I couldn't care less how you live your life… well, not unless you were doing something particularly stupid. Then you'd deserve to have me punch some sense into you. But really, every time I see Martha, it's always, 'How is Yusei, has he got anyone special yet?' or 'Is Yusei still doing okay on his own?' and I just…" Jack blew out a frustrated sigh, ruffling his own bangs. "I just don't need to hear her worrying about the fact that you're almost 26 and perpetually single every damn visit. I get enough motherly worry on my part. Why do I need to be saddled with yours too?"

"I'm sorry." Yusei always looked so sincere when he apologized that it almost made you feel guilty for even starting anything. Fortunately, he and Jack had known each other almost their entire lives, grown up together, leaving Jack largely immune.. "I'll let her know I'm fine so she'll ease up a bit."

"Which will probably last about a month before she starts to worry again. Seriously, Yusei. How hard is it to find a girlfriend? Or boyfriend? Apply your problem solving skills to that and make everyone happy?"

Yusei stood, rolling his neck until the joints clicked and brushing the dust from his pants. "I'm not sure why she's so worried about me. I'm fine. It's you who was just broken up with recently."

Jack's face immediately darkened, and his expression turned indignant. "Excuse _me_, _but_ _I _am the one who broke up with _Carly_, if you don't remember. She was far too clingy for someone like me."

"It's a pity." Yusei pushed the television, good as new, back into its original position. "We liked her. She was nice. And she accepted you for you."

It was pretty much unheard of for Yusei to directly insult somebody, but the underlying meaning of his words rung loud and clear to Jack – 'She accepted your ego, your strange quirks and your completely self-absorbed approach to life.'

Jack chose to ignore the implied barb completely.

"She was clingy" he insisted. "I need my space, you know. Carly didn't know when to back-down or leave me be. I need someone more serious than her, someone more level-headed who isn't always in my face."

His cheeks colored as he spoke, and the end of the sentence was punctuated by an embarrassed cough into his hand. Yusei couldn't help the edge of his mouth quirking into the beginnings of an almost-smile.

"You'll find that person eventually," he assured Jack, who still couldn't seem to meet his eyes. He never had been good at discussing emotions. "And who knows, maybe I'll find someone soon too. I'm not worried, it'll happen when it happens."

"What, are you expecting for them to be mail-ordered to your house or something?" The sarcasm was evident in Jack's voice. "You'll never find anyone if you're not proactive. People don't just drop into your lap."

"You never know," Yusei replied, but there was a touch of humor to his voice that let Jack know he was joking; Yusei didn't expect love to come to him. He just wasn't ready to go to it yet.

As it would eventually turn out, both of them were right.

* * *

One couldn't say that Yusei was famous – not the way Jack, Neo-Domino's #1 in the Pro-Auto Bike Racing League, was – but he was known in his field. As the best and brightest in his year, companies had practically been clamoring for him to work for them.

But Yusei had his own dreams, and had rejected all offers in his usual polite-but-stoic manner, and the 5D's Repair Company had been born.

Still, Yusei's aptitude with all things mechanical was well-known to anyone in the engineering industry. And so as it was, from time to time, Yusei was requested by several companies to test their new products and offer his opinion on their strengths and faults.

His natural talent and his reputation as a young genius made him an invaluable beta-tester, as he was almost as likely to understand any malfunctions or issues that arose with the product as the members of the team who had developed them in the first place. It made his feedback all the more useful than that of the average consumer.

Thus, it wasn't unusual for Yusei to receive a request from Clear Mind Industries to help them beta-test the first model of a new product they were developing.

The request came mid-winter in, as usual, the form of an envelope in the mail. Yusei braved the bitter cold, as he did every morning, on the brief trek to his letterbox through a blanket of powdery snow that had fallen overnight.

It was unusually cold that year, the snow sticking instead of quickly melting into the clear, icy slush that Neo-Domino was used to seeing at the end of December. Yusei wrapped his scarf tighter around his neck, wool tickling his ears, to block the chill from reaching his skin.

The letter sat there innocuously amongst the usual bills and junk mail, its CMi logo the only thing setting the envelope apart from the rest. Yusei carefully tore it open once he was back inside and could feel his fingers again, and pulled the stiff, official documents out.

"Another beta test, huh?" He muttered to himself. It was the usual brief letter of explanation, an agreement form and then the 13 odd pages of contract and fine print that no one, even Yusei, ever read. He wouldn't lie, of course; he always perked up when he got these offers. New technology excited him; he loved to see what sort of things these companies could come up with, what methods they used to improve on earlier models.

This set of papers, however, came with what looked like a set of questionnaire sheets, which was something Yusei had never seen before. He put them aside for the moment, and flipped straight to the explanation letter to get a better idea of what he was going to be testing. As he read through the paper, his face morphed from interest into a confused frown. It wasn't long before he was on the phone with the director of the production team.

"So just to get it straight, this thing you're asking me to test, it's…" he struggled to find the right words, but none came and he was forced to make do with the next best thing. "It's some sort of… love… robot?"

"Well, yes. And no. At its very core, the idea of the Axel Android is to provide a loving companion for someone who may not otherwise be able to find one. So in essence, one might see it as a love robot, yes. But it's much more than that. We've improved, and hopefully with your help will continue to improve, on the design of the basic service robot that our company introduced to the market during the worker shortage several years ago.

"The Axel Android is designed to be indistinguishable from a human. When first activated, they have a basic programming to run off, plus any customizations the client specified in their order form. But it will, over time, learn and respond to the likes and dislikes of the client, essentially making it into the perfect companion."

"Okay…" There had been a rumor that Clear Mind industries had been working on a project like this, which had popped up soon after the release of the Service Bots. But even so, while Yusei wasn't completely surprised, it was still a little overwhelming. An almost completely human-like robot… this kind of technology just blew his mind. "And this basic programming you mentioned…? Could you still me a little more about that?"

"We studied and attempted the closest possible replication of the brainwaves and thought processes of two volunteers; just one boy and one girl, so far. We're hoping that upon release we'll be able to provide 3 different models for each sex, but we're not getting ahead of ourselves. Once we see how the first test trials turn out, we'll go into developing further programs. As it is for now, the Antinomy and Sherry models are the only two available."

"Hmm…" Yusei absentmindedly fingered the sheets of paper he'd left lying on the table.

Despite his conversation with Jack earlier in the week, the truth was that he had little to no interest in love, and certainly not with an android, no matter how closely it mimicked human behaviors and patterns of thought. But on the other hand, this was obviously an amazing piece of technology, and he'd be a fool not to test it. He wondered if the 'droid would let him take it apart or perform maintenance on it, take a quick look at what made it tick…

He'd always wondered exactly how the service androids were built so that they moved in such a smooth, human-like fashion. On occasion, he'd brushed fingers with them when they were handing him change in the store, and their skin felt real, warm… this was his chance to explore and find the answers to all these questions at leisure, and for no charge at that. He'd be a fool to turn this down.

"I understand," he finally replied. "I'm very grateful for this opportunity. Thank you."

"Glad to have you on board."


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Technical Difficulties

**Rating: **PG-13

**Pairings: **Bruno/Yusei (main), Jack/Yusei (sub-pairing)

**Author's Notes: **This is what happens when I have to do overtime at work but don't actually have anything to work on… I update fic quickly.

* * *

There was no mistaking that buying your very own android would be almost unbelievably expensive. Yusei himself held no illusions that, under normal circumstances, he could never have met the expenses one himself. This was a type of luxury that could, until the technology became more commonplace, only be afforded by the extremely rich, or the decently rich and extremely desperate.

This was another part of the reason why Yusei had accepted the role of beta tester, even though he really didn't have any interest in interacting romantically with the robot once it arrived – he had no plans to use it for its intended purpose, but he did want to interact with and study it. Part of him wondered how it would react once he explained to the machine that he didn't want to partake in any intimate relations, not even so much as kissing or touching.

He wasn't worried about being forced, of course. If a robot made a customer uncomfortable with unwanted advances or coercion, it would spell an automatic court case for the company, and they'd come under fire faster than you could say 'sexual assault'.

At any rate, the sheer cost of the robot left him entirely unsurprised by just how in-depth the customization forms were. No one was going to fork out millions for a robot lover than didn't meet their tastes after all.

And so, Yusei had to wait until he had a fair chunk of free time before he sat down with a cup of tea and the wad of papers littered with tick boxes and multiple-choice answers.

It was then that Yusei realized he had never given an iota of thought to what his ideal lover would be like. He thought about that for a moment – it wasn't like he was planning to use the android as a lover, right? IF so, then it didn't matter. Rather, if he was going to be sharing living space with it for the duration of the test period, then at least personality-wise, he should customize himself someone he could get along with, hold a decent conversation with. With that in mind, he began to fill the forms out.

He skipped physical appearance – the options he chose for that was solely limited to his taste in a partner rather than his taste in friends – and went straight for the behavior section.

He immediately ticked the intelligent box, quickly followed by a specification for mechanical knowledge- it would be difficult to discuss the inner-workings of the android if the droid itself was unable to understand them due to its programming. After a moment of thought, Yusei also requested that the robot be somewhat mild-mannered and innocent. While he didn't expect it to pressure him for romantic interaction, it never hurt to be too careful.

Considerate… subtle sense of humor… he followed up with friendly, good-natured, cheerful and talkative. As a man of few words who, on occasion, found it difficult to maintain the flow of conversation, Yusei had always had an easier time talking naturally with someone who found chatting easy.

Slightly eccentric, a little absent-minded, ever-so-slightly clumsy…

Yusei paused and took a moment to smile. These were simply traits he found endearing, rather than traits he looked for in a friend. Perhaps he did have a vague idea about what he wanted in an ideal lover after all. Well, it wouldn't hurt to add it, he decided.

Under skills, he made sure that in addition to being knowledgeable about mechanics, his android would also be handy with a wrench and able to work with machinery.. That way, if it was so inclined, it could help out in the business. Not that Yusei planned to take advantage of it for free labor, but he didn't want to leave it sitting around all day while he worked.

After a moment's thought, he also added some cooking skill; nothing extraordinary, but after a period of living with Jack, who could burn water if he really put his mind to it, Yusei appreciated a housemate who was at least decent in the kitchen.

Once he'd sorted out personality, Yusei went back to the beginning, staring blankly at the physical appearance section.

He supposed this would be important if he wanted to be physically attracted to the robot, but he just didn't care. It didn't help that Yusei wasn't particularly shallow in the first place, and appearances didn't mean a whole lot to him.

Always, a problem solver, Yusei decided he would just base its appearance off that of his friends. He grabbed a photo album, choosing a random trait from the first person his eyes landed on. Grey eyes like his friend, Crow. 6 foot 2 inches, like Jack. Blue hair like one of Jack's ex-girlfriends, Mikage. Same nose as Yusei's little cousin, Rua…

He went through his album until all the traits were filled in and there was just one more box to tick.

Male? Or female?

Yusei pursed his lips.

He was aware, and long had been, that he found men and women equally attractive. Thinking about it from that point of view, choosing was impossible. He didn't even want to get into the options for androgyny or in-between male and female. That was just too many options for him to think about.

Who would he prefer living with? A man seemed like it would be easier. When you lived with someone of the opposite sex, there were automatic assumptions made, which could lead to pressures being put on him and false hope for Martha if she found out… no, a man was much safer.

Yusei ticked the box. All that was left now…

He spied a news paper lying just within reach on the table and grabbed it, flipping to a random page and searching for the first name that caught his eye. There was a review for a classical music album by a foreign artist he'd never heard of that caught his eye. Yusei sounded the name out on his tongue to make sure he liked it, then wrote it into the last empty line on the page.

And with that, his customization form for 'Bruno' was complete.

* * *

"It figures you finally get a lover and it's a _machine_," Jack said, his tone totally flat for once.

Crow seemed far more amused. "You know, we always knew you were a technophile, but I didn't realize you'd take it to a more literal level."

The three of them were all squashed together at the counter space of a tiny ramen shop, steaming bowls of noodles and fatty pork sat in front of them. Yusei was a little distracted by the way Jack kept toying with his without his usual enthusiasm when he was eating ramen – he was probably one of the few people in the world who much preferred the cup variety to the real thing.

"I have no intentions of using it for its original purpose," Yusei repeated. "Like I said, it's a beta test, and this technology is fascinating. I couldn't pass it up despite the implications of what ordering it might mean."

Jack poked at a piece of Chinese cabbage with a chopstick and sniffed with clear disdain. "Having this fake boyfriend just diminishes your chances of finding a real boyfriend." He paused for a moment, and then almost as an afterthought, "…or girlfriend."

Crow gave him a funny look as a he slurped up a mouthful of noodles, then spoke between bites. "Lighten up, Jack. It's kind of hilarious if you think about it. Why are you so invested in Yusei's love life anyway?"

Jack's face went bright pink, "I am not invested, Crow! I just don't appreciate being nagged about checking whether or not he's lonely. Outside of that, I don't care what Yusei does with his love life, even if I _do_ find the idea of shacking up with a robot one of the creepiest ideas ever."

Crow raised an eyebrow "Well, okay, Mr. Defensive… but I'm pretty sure I do remember a couple of times when Yusei was paying more attention to his laptop than you that you told him if he loved it so much, he should just go and marry it."

Yusei just chuckled as the two of them bickered. When they'd been growing up together in Martha's care, it had been the same. Jack and Crow would argue with each other until they were both blue in the face, and Yusei would sit quietly by, either trying not to let them see that he was laughing or not even registering the quarrel at all.

He imagined that Jack was actually worried about him – Jack had been the tallest and strongest of the three back when they were children, and had assigned himself the role of protector, proclaiming that a king must always protect his subjects. He'd always had a skewed way of showing affection unless it really, really, _really _mattered, and expressing emotion was embarrassing and difficult for him. Admitting that he cared was out of the question.

When they split up after dinner (Crow somehow footing Jack's part of the bill) and bid farewell, Crow heading back in the direction of Satellite and Yusei and Jack towards the city center, Yusei nudged his friend in the side.

"It's just for 3 months, you know."

"What is," Jack replied, tone blunt.

"The android. It's a 3 month beta test, then I send him back for observation." He shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe if Martha knows I have company, even if it is a robot, when it comes down to it, she won't worry so much."

Jack just huffed, sounding slightly disdainful, and Yusei hid a smile. If he wasn't replying, that just meant he had no arguments to make.

"You should come and see it when it arrives," Yusei told Jack once it was time to go their separate ways. "It'll be interesting if nothing else."

"Why would _I _be interested in coming and meeting your robot boyfriend?" Jack said, but his reply was a bit too quick and Yusei couldn't help but smile openly this time.

"Well, if you change your mind…" he trailed off, fully aware that Jack had made up his mind to come and check Bruno out thoroughly. He would just never admit it.

* * *

For some reason, whenever you order a product and have it shipped to you, the box it comes in is often twice the size of the actual contents itself. The box that Yusei's Axel Android came in was no exception. It arrived at 11:20 on a Sunday morning in the back of a delivery truck and took two men to carry up the front steps of Yusei's house and into his living room.

"Geez, what did you order, a dead body?" One of the delivery men joked with him. Yusei raised an eyebrow at him.

"I guess you could say that," he replied, earning himself a strange look and no further conversation as the men settled the box against the far wall, near his couch.

The plain, brown box, emblazoned with no more than a 'fragile' sticker, was almost 8 feet tall, and wide enough to fit the girth of at least one and a half average-sized humans inside. Yusei cut the packing tape keeping it shut with a pair of scissors and began peeling the box open.

He was a little nervous, though he had no idea why – perhaps it was just because he knew that, behind the cardboard flaps, there was something that would perfectly resemble a human body waiting inside the packaging. And that flawless replica of a human, while really just a moving mannequin, would have what seemed like a real personality. It was almost like being shipped a person rather than a piece of complicated machinery.

For some reason, the flippant comment that Jack had made several weeks ago about Yusei's complete lack of enthusiasm about searching for a lover came to mind - "What, are you expecting for them to be mail-ordered to your house or something?"

Well, he hadn't been, but now that was exactly what had happened. His mouth quirked in amusement at the irony, and he finally pushed his nerves aside and opened the box.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **Technical Difficulties

**Rating: **PG-13

**Pairings: **Bruno/Yusei (main), Jack/Yusei (sub-pairing)

**Author's Notes: **First meeting = dialogue heavy chapter. lol, sorry.

* * *

He was perfect.

Yusei, though he had no plans to use the droid for any kind of romantic means, couldn't help but hold his breath as his heart skipped a beat. Presumably the company made all their robots attractive unless requested otherwise, but Yusei couldn't help thinking that the random features he'd thrown together from his photo album had ended up working together very well.

But it wasn't just the fact that the robot was extremely good-looking that had Yusei all aflutter – it was the sheer detail. Even up close, it was difficult to tell that this wasn't a human. The pores of his skin, the tiny hairs on his arms, the texture of the hair on his head… it was all so amazingly realistic. There was nothing synthetic or manufactured about his appearance at all. It made Yusei doubt that, even if he searched under the robot's clothes, he'd be able to find a single seam on his body where the synthetic skin had been joined together.

At present, the android still wasn't switched on, and so his skin was cool to the touch, but it felt realistic enough.

Having grown up in Satellite, Yusei wasn't lucky enough to be able to say that he had never touched a dead body, and the robot's skin was similar in warmth. In fact, he currently had a very corpse-like vibe to him, what with his cool, eerily still body, and perhaps if Yusei had been anyone else, he would have found it unbearably creepy. As it was, he wasn't particularly bothered, knowing full well that as soon as he was activated, he warm up and begin moving in a way indistinguishable from that of a real living being.

"I should probably switch you on," Yusei murmured to himself. If he was totally honest with himself, he was probably more nervous about the android coming to life than he was about it looking like a body in a morgue. Once it was on, it would be the same as living with another person, and Yusei was still hesitant about taking that step. He enjoyed company, but he also valued his private time.

Still, he was curious to see how the droid would function, and so he retrieved the instruction manual from where he'd set it aside upon opening the box and leafed through it.

'_There is a bracelet located on the left wrist of the Axel Android® which, when turned in a counter clockwise direction, will cause it to activate. This is bracelet is also where the cable to charge the Axel Android® should be inserted (for more on charging your Axel Android® see page 53 of this manual). Please note that the Axel Android® cannot be deactivated by turning the bracelet back in the clockwise direction (for more on deactivation, see page 82 of this manual)._'

"A bracelet, huh." Yusei's eyes travelled down the robot's arm, noting that, sure enough, there was a simple bracelet clasped around his wrist. "So I just turn this."

He let his fingers brush over the cold metal, chilled from the winter air even inside his house. "Guess it's now or never."

He grasped the bracelet in his fingers, turning it counter clockwise as specified, until it gave an audible click and the robot hummed to life. It sounded very similar to a computer starting up, but that quickly faded, replaced by a perfect replication of the sound of breathing as the machine's chest began to rise and fall. Yusei watched in fascination, fingers still pressed to the skin of its wrist, right above where the bracelet was. The change in the warmth was almost instantaneous, skin taking on a much more lifelike quality as it heated to above room temperature.

Finally, the androids eyes opened – Yusei noted that his eyelids didn't flutter the way a human's would when waking from a deep sleep. He wondered if he should take a note and report on that – and focused on Yusei. A small smile blossomed across his face and Yusei found his own lips responding, turning up at the edges.

"Hello," the android said simply. "I'm Bruno… but… well… I guess you're the one who named me, so you already knew that."

He let out a shy almost-giggle and went to rub the back of his head, only to find that he was still inside the box he'd been shipped in.

"Oh… uh. Do you mind if I get out of this?"

Yusei's tiny smile grew larger. "Please do. It can't be comfortable."

He watched Bruno struggle out of the cardboard, then trip over some of the Styrofoam packing that had been securing his leg, falling on his face and taking the box with him. Yusei struggled to keep down a laugh. This guy… robot… seemed so alive, so human. There was nothing smooth or precise or mechanical about him. It was amazing. He seemed like a real person with real quirks – they were quirks that Yusei had ordered, of course, but that didn't detract from them.

"I'm sorry, this is a terrible first impression," Bruno pushed the cardboard and the rest of the things that had been packed into the box off. He stood back up, brushing himself off, and gave Yusei and adorable, embarrassed smile. "You're probably wondering how someone like me can be so clumsy."

"It's my fault," Yusei apologized automatically. "I ordered you like that, though I wasn't expecting it… right out of the box, so to speak."

Bruno cast his eyes downward, the smile still on his face. "Well, if that 's what you like, then… I guess you don't mind." He looked back up, and their eyes met. They were grey, just like he'd ordered, but still so very different to Crow's. "So, your name is Yusei, correct? Fudo Yusei. Was the pronunciation input accurate?"

"Perfect," Yusei confirmed.

"And my name? Is it… how you imagined it?" Bruno asked, and he sounded almost shy.

Yusei's smile took on an amused quality. He understood the relevance of these questions, assumed it was part of the regular setup process, but it was still funny having someone ask you if they were pronouncing their own name correctly.

"It wouldn't matter even if it wasn't. It's your name. I'm not going to tell you how to say it."

He watched in amazement as a flush spread across Bruno's features, as naturally as it would across his own. Yes, he was definitely glad he agreed to take on this testing job. The technology was incredible – he couldn't wait until he got Bruno settled and could see if he didn't know a thing or two about his own programming.

"I… well, okay, then I guess I'm Bruno. I'm sorry, it's standard protocol to ask. Once this product is out on the market, the consumers will be paying a lot for it. There would probably be some who got angry if we said our names in a way other than they'd imagined. Especially if we're ordered by overseas customers, there's a chance the name could be entered totally wrong."

"Ahh. That makes sense," Yusei nodded. He could see customers kicking up a fuss about something like that, especially if they were the extremely wealthy kind who were used to getting exactly what they wanted.

"I guess you're not exactly the kind of customer we're expecting to market to. At first, anyway." Bruno peered at Yusei curiously, and Yusei couldn't help wondering exactly how he was programmed to read and register his surrounding; exactly how did he see Yusei.

"I'm an engineering graduate," Yusei explained. He could tell that Bruno was curious – well, he probably wasn't really, it was just the way that his programming worked. Maybe the traits that Yusei had given him worked together to make an inquisitive personality, or maybe the man Bruno's programming was based on, Antimony, was the naturally inquisitive type.

Whatever it was, the way Bruno behaved was so much like a normal person that Yusei found himself responding to him like one.

"I often test products for this company. If something goes wrong, my studies give me a broader insight into what might have gone wrong, and I know the kinds of things to keep an eye out for that others might overlook."

Bruno's eyes lit up the moment the words 'engineering graduate' left Yusei's mouth, and he suddenly seemed a lot like an excited child on their birthday.

"You're into mechanics, then? Me too! I'm really interested in machinery and computers and I love programming…" he trailed off, suddenly looking embarrassed. "Oh, right. I guess you asked for that too, ehehe.."

Yusei cocked his head, still amused. "You can tell me about yourself. It doesn't matter if it's something I asked for or not. Of course, I know you're good at mechanics, but I wasn't sure how you felt about it. You can be good at something without being passionate about the topic."

"Ohhh, right, of course, you're right, I never thought of it like that…" Bruno seemed strangely flustered, and Yusei took a moment to once again appreciate the amazing reproduction of human behavioral patterns. "Ahh… I'm sorry. We've only just met and I must already seem so undignified." Bruno laughed. "You probably regret ordering me as a boyfriend."

Yusei responded with silence. It stretched out between them, growing long enough to be uncomfortable, and Bruno looked around nervously, suddenly seeming awkward under Yusei's unwavering stare.

"You, uh… don't actually already regret ordering me, do you?"

Yusei shook his head. "No, there are no regrets. It's just about the boyfriend thing." He paused for a moment, wondering how to break the news to a robot whose specific purpose was to be someone's lover that Yusei wasn't actually interested in that

Bruno seemed to take his pause to mean bad news. "Oh… you… did you want a girl? Did you tick the wrong box and end up with a boy instead of a girl? Ah, you're heterosexual, aren't you. It's okay, I'm sure they could do something about it, send you a Sherry model…"

"Bruno is a boy's name," Yusei pointed out, tone blunt. "No, it's... I didn't request this beta testing job. It was offered to me. I do appreciate it, but I wasn't looking for a boyfriend. Or girlfriend. But I was interested in your programming and design, and so I accepted."

He expected Bruno to look offended, or at least a little disappointed or put out. The last thing he expected was a smile and a sigh of relief but that's what he got.

"Thank goodness." Bruno rubbed imaginary sweat from his forehead. "Not that I wouldn't ever want to be your boyfriend, because… well." He smiled, and again, it was shy. "But we've only just met. Jumping into a relationship feels so sudden, and I don't know if it from Antimony's personality or the traits you chose for me, but… it made me uncomfortable."

Yusei's eyebrows rose at this admission. That was definitely something he'd need to report back about. This was fine with him – worked well for him, even – but for someone who was expecting a 100% willing lover, it could pose an issue. Perhaps the free-will they'd managed to install in the robots was a little _too _great.

"Isn't the main purpose of the Axel Android to provide a… partner for the consumer?" Yusei couldn't help but ask. "If the product doesn't want to perform its job, then…"

Bruno's expression turned thoughtful, and he nodded. "Yes, that probably does need to be addressed in the models released to the market. Of course, if you had wanted me to perform the role of your boyfriend, I would have done so, no questions asked. Like you said, it's my main purpose. But…" he shrugged. "I'm glad you don't."

Yusei nodded absentmindedly in agreement. Something about that seemed wrong to him. It seemed almost the same as a girl who didn't want to have sex with her boyfriend, but felt pressured to and so did it anyway. While Bruno was a robot, and thus technically an appliance, he appeared human enough for the comparison to cross Yusei's mind, and he didn't like it. Yes, he would definitely have to report back to Clear Mind Industries about this.

"I am programmed to react and develop to the likes and dislikes of my owner, though," Bruno was still rambling. "So I think I quickly would have grown to want to be your boyfriend… to enjoy it, I guess… but at first, it would have felt… awkward, I guess."

That was another thing Yusei wasn't sure he liked. He clearly wasn't cut out for this robot boyfriend thing; the idea of Bruno editing his programming – essentially, his very personality – to become more to Yusei's liking also struck a wrong chord in him.

"Is that a conscious change or is it inbuilt?" He asked. "How does it work?"

Bruno thought for a moment. Yusei wondered if he had the ability to analyze his own programming.

"If you can call it 'conscious' when we're programmed to do it, then yes, it is. I mean, I do have control over it." He paused briefly, as if thinking of the simplest way to explain the process. "Basically, we collect data on your responses to our actions. Body language, what you say, do… if it's positive, it reinforces the action and we keep doing it. If it's negative, eventually we learn not to do it anymore. It's like that. Or if you mention a like or dislike, we record that. Then once we have enough information, we update our system to reflect what we've learned.

So if my clumsiness started to get on your nerves, for example, I'd eventually register that, and reduce it."

Yusei bit his lip, not making eye contact with Bruno anymore. So essentially, the robot's entire personality could change. Even traits you'd input yourself in the beginning could disappear if you changed your mind about them in the end. They could probably come back just as easily. There was definitely something about it that didn't sit so well with him.

"You… don't have to change for me," Yusei eventually said. "I don't think I like that. If you're going to change anything for me, then I want it to be that part of your programming. Collect all the information you want about me, but if you don't desperately want to change, then… just don't."

Another long silence followed, this time more strange than awkward. Bruno was just staring at him with his lips slightly parted, the expression on his face almost disbelieving. It was kind of cute, Yusei thought, and he had to bite his cheek to keep from smiling.

"That's… are you sure?" Bruno appeared almost concerned. "I mean, that's…if you don't like something about me, why wouldn't you want it to change?"

Yusei couldn't help but smile – or rather, smirk – just a tiny bit. "Believe me, if I could change every trait my friends had that got on my nerves slightly, they would be entirely different people." Jack came to mind in particular. "It's people's traits, annoying and wonderful, that make them who they are. Surely both of them, good and bad, are the reason you become friends in the first place"

A strange expression came over Bruno's face. "Yusei…"

"You, also, are fine the way you are, I can assure you. I'm looking forward to getting to know you."

The strange expression slowly turned into a smile, spreading across Bruno's face. "I… then… okay." He agreed. Then after a moment, "Yusei, I'm, uh… I'm glad. That out of all the people I could have been made for, I was made for you."

Yusei laughed, patting Bruno on the shoulder.

They certainly had done a good job with these androids. He felt attached already.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: **Technical Difficulties

**Rating: **PG-13

**Pairings: **Bruno/Yusei (main), Jack/Yusei (sub-pairing)

**Author's Notes: **Slower update this time. I'm actually doing real work at work? What is this tomfoolery!

* * *

"I don't like him, Yusei."

Most people who weren't Jack Atlas would have waited for a private moment, and hissed the comment out of the corner of their mouth. Then again, most people who weren't Jack Atlas knew how to keep their opinions to themselves to avoid hurting others' feelings.

However, this was Jack Atlas, and so the comment in question was made at a totally regular volume, right in front of Bruno's face, with no regard to the fact that they were all sitting around Martha's dining room table with Crow, Martha herself, and the whole horde of orphans she a d Crow took care of.

There was an awkward silence before little Taiga piped up, "I like him."

"Me too," Ginga agreed. "He brought us presents. You don't bring us presents, Jack."

Jack flushed and gritted his teeth, looking like he was ready to start an argument. Yusei sighed. He'd been expecting something like this before Bruno and Jack had even met, but that didn't mean he was okay with it.

Fortunately for him, Martha was good at dealing with children, which was crucial when you wanted to get Jack to behave.

"I'm not going to have insults or bickering at the dinner table," she said firmly. "A gentleman needs to respect the rules of a woman's house."

Jack's bottom lip twitched, itching to jut out in a pout, but he kept himself in check and muttered, "Yes, Martha" into a spoonful of stew.

Bruno had been smiling awkwardly throughout the whole exchange. Yusei caught his gaze and raised his eyebrows slightly, which seemed to cause Bruno to relax a bit, smile becoming slightly more genuine.

"So you'll be keeping my Yusei company for two months," Martha broke the silence. Her expression was warm and non-confronting, probably exactly what Bruno needed after Jack had spent the first 10 minutes from the moment they'd met grilling him about his past week with Yusei, what kind of relationship they'd developed, how he was treating him, what they'd been doing and where Bruno slept.

"Er, yes. Yusei's being kind enough to let me help in the garage at the moment. Even after I spilt all his tools all over the floor," He laughed at himself, rubbing the back of his head. "Fortunately I don't make mistakes like that when I'm working on anything."

Jack looked like he wanted to say something, but that soon changed to a look of annoyance crossed with pain. Yusei recognized it as the same look he always developed after Crow preemptively kicked him under the table.

"I offered him a wage, but he wouldn't take it," Yusei explained. "He's got a magic touch with mechanics, so it's a great help and he's saving me a lot of money."

"Sounds like just the right person for you to have in the house, Yusei." Martha was all smiles. "You never did have anyone to talk to about mechanics or engineering when you were living here. Are you sure you won't get lonely when it's time for Bruno to go back?"

Yusei ignored Jack's sullen expression. "There's nothing to worry about, Martha. In the meantime, I'm just grateful for all his help."

"I'm kind of surprised, to be honest," Crow said through a half-chewed mouthful of bread. "No offense, Bruno, but I was expecting someone a bit more like the service bots, like the ones in the stores, yanno? I mean, they can respond to complaints and questions and they can do their jobs, but you can't make conversation with them. Anything beyond basic greetings and weather and all you get is a blank smile and a, 'Will that be all, sir?' They can't… talk. Like you."

"Ah, well," Bruno shrugged. "I am designed to be far superior technology… not that I mean to brag, haha."

Crow snickered. "It's not bragging if it's true. To be completely honest, Yusei seems more like a robot than you do."

Bruno spluttered, going pink in the face and fervently denying it, while Yusei calmly continued to eat his dinner, their reactions justifying Crow's comment more than disproving it.

All things considered, the dinner was going exceptionally well. It wasn't often you brought an android home to meet your friends and foster family, Even Jack was behaving better than Yusei expected – better than he'd prepared Bruno for as well.

* * *

"_I'm nervous," Bruno admitted. "This will be the first time I meet anyone you really know… I'm worried I won't make a good impression"_

_They were working on Yusei's bike, side by side. Bruno had managed to fix the rugged sound the engine had been making that Yusei had been fiddling with for so long. Yusei wiped the motor oil on his gloves off onto his overalls. _

"_I wouldn't worry about making a good impression. You probably won't."_

"_Yeah…" Bruno replied absently, before doing the mental equivalent of a double-take, head snapping around to stare at Yusei. "No, wait, what?"_

"_Well." Yusei amended himself as he sat back on his haunches, looking at Bruno properly. __"It's probably not very considerate of me to introduce you to Jack before anyone else, but after that, it'll be generally smooth sailing. __It's 50-50 with Crow, but I'd say he'll like you. Martha and the kids will too. But you'll be meeting Jack first, and Jack… well, I would suggest not expending any energy on trying to get in his good books. It's probably not going to happen. He's very protective of the people he cares about, especially when someone new is involved."_

_Bruno was quiet for a while, fiddling with the dashboard for the bike. When he finally spoke, he couldn't seem to look at Yusei's face, and his cheeks were a little pink. "Even though I'm not your boyfriend?"_

"_I don't think it will matter to Jack what relationship we say we have. All he knows is that we're living together, and what your original purpose was. Just ignore him. If you want to make a good impression on him, all you can do is keep being yourself, and give it time. Also, he has a tournament coming up, so if you give me a hand with adjustments to his bike, that will probably speed up the process."_

_And as predicted, Bruno had not gone down well with Jack - not that he'd given him a chance. Jack had sniffed at Bruno's extended hand and refused to shake it, then proceeded to tell Yusei right in front of him that he thought Bruno looked suspicious and shouldn't be trusted. Bruno hadn't been able to do anything other than stare, bewildered, and utter something about how he hadn't been programmed to be suspicious, so it must be Jack's imagination._

_"It is his imagination," Yusei confirmed. "Jack, play nice, please."_

_"I'm not playing _anything _with him," Jack hissed back, then refused to acknowledge Bruno for the entire ride in the car to Martha's._

_Jack didn't, however, resort to punching Bruno (or anyone else, for that matter) and once they got to the orphanage, Martha kept his verbal attacks to a minimum. Mostly. So as far as Yusei was concerned, the night was panning out rather successfully._

* * *

Bruno and Yusei had helped with cooking dinner, so once everyone was finished eating, Martha roped Jack into helping clean up.

"I can give you a hand too if you want," Yusei offered, but Martha waved him off.

"Thank you, Yusei, but it'll be fine with two people. I don't know if our tiny kitchen can fit anyone more."

And so with no more chores to help out with, Yusei retired upstairs with Bruno. Crow lived nearby, so he'd already said his goodnights and left, but Yusei and Jack's respective homes were a decent drive away, and it was getting late, so Martha had offered the three of them lodging for the night.

"This was my old room." Yusei spoke in a soft voice – the room had since been inherited by new orphan occupants, all of whom were now fast asleep, so they had to be quiet. Bruno crept to the door and took a peek inside before retreating back to Yusei's side.

"Is it very different to how it was when you were a kid?"

"There were fewer posters of Racing King Jack Atlas when I was living in it," Yusei said. His tone was deadpan, but Bruno's programming had helped him to rapidly pick up on when Yusei was joking and when he wasn't.

Bruno went completely silent for a moment. "You were right. He really doesn't like me." He let out a short, mirthless laugh. "I don't even need to speculate on that, since he said so himself."

Yusei smiled slightly. "He really doesn't like a lot of people when he first meets them. You're doing pretty well, seeing as he hasn't punched you in the gut yet. Although that may be something to do with us being at Martha's house."

"Or me being a multi-million yen piece of machinery," Bruno replied, but at least the humor was back in his voice.

Yusei pushed open the door to the twin room they were going to be sharing and went to the closet, pulling out extra blankets and pillows. "I don't think Jack views you as a machine," he said, tossing one of the pillows in Bruno's direction – for a robot, he was amusingly picky about his sleeping arrangements. "It's Jack we're talking about, and if it walks, talks and acts like a duck, in his mind, it's a duck. Or in this case, a human."

Bruno caught the pillow and stood there holding it a little awkwardly, not knowing what to do with himself in the unfamiliar surroundings. "You and Jack are really close…"

"We are. But," Yusei raised an eyebrow, "what makes you say that?"

"You know so much about him. And you talk about him so familiarly." Bruno shrugged. "He's really protective of you too."

"Yeah. We grew up together. Jack is the eldest too, so he took on that role. Not that Crow or I asked him to, but it happened anyway." Yusei took a bed and Bruno finally put his pillow down on the other. "Jack is an important part of my life. Crow too. But out of the two, it's Jack I've known the longest."

Bruno nodded, then looked down at his bracelet. It had taken on a faint red glow. "I'd better charge myself. I've kept forgetting to do it this week."

"Alright. I'll go and see if Martha needs anything." He gave Bruno a friendly pat on the shoulder. "I'll be back soon."

The house was quiet now, what with the children all asleep, no childish bickering or gleeful shrieks permeating the thin walls. Yusei descended the stairs slow and silent, stopping just outside the doorway to the kitchen when he heard Martha's slightly frustrated tone.

"There's no reason to treat him that way, Jack. I thought I raised you better."

"But he's… what if… Yusei…" Jack, on the other hand, sounded mad. He didn't often stutter, but when he was overcome with anger he sometimes did have trouble stringing a sentence together. "I just don't trust him, he could so easily hurt Yusei and then what?"

Yusei's brows knitted and he sighed. Of course. This was about Bruno.

He heard Martha sigh too, followed by the clink of china on china.

"We both know what the real problem is here, don't we Jack…"

Jack went deathly quiet, and Yusei could almost hear his childish pout over his lack of reply.

"You're jealous again, aren't you." This comment was followed by a chuckle, and Yusei could only imagine what kind of expression had come over Jack's face to cause it. "You were the same when he started spending so much time with that girl… Aki?... from his Statistics class all those years ago."

"That was different, she was known on his campus as the _witch_. I was worried for his own good." Jack sounded like he was speaking through gritted teeth.

"The point is, Jack… you can't keep this up. Are you going to get jealous every time someone comes along who could form a romantic bond with Yusei? If you're not going to tell him how you feel about him you can't try and chase away everyone else who might."

"That's… that…" Jack stammered, and Yusei could tell that this time he truly was at a loss for words.

"It's okay, Jack. I've known for a long time. You never were a subtle boy, especially not as a teenager."

Jack audibly swallowed. "You're not going to tell him, are you?"

"I wouldn't dream of it. That's up to you, Jack. They're your feelings, after all."

Yusei slowly backed away from the kitchen and retreated up the stairs, stepping lightly and avoiding the spots that he knew creaked. The fact that it was about him didn't matter – he couldn't help feeling like he'd just learned something he wasn't meant to know.


	5. Chapter 5

**Title: **Technical Difficulties

**Rating: **PG-13

**Pairings: **Bruno/Yusei (main), Jack/Yusei (sub-pairing)

**Author's Notes: **Well, work is back in full-swing (technically this leaves evenings free to write, but I made the mistake of buying a PSP the other day, and well… yeah…) which means I'm writing more slowly, so slow update is slow. Still, I'm writing nonetheless! Just slowly.

Over the next week, Yusei was amazed at how quickly and simply Bruno fit into his life. It had been a long time since he'd lived with someone –since he'd graduated, in fact – and he'd gotten used to, even started enjoying having his own space. When he'd been weighing up the pros and cons of accepting the beta test, one of the cons had been the constant presence of someone else in the house. Bruno, however, proved to be exceptionally easy to live with.

In fact, the truth was that Yusei was starting to enjoy being around him. Bruno knew when to give him time alone, but more often than not, even when he was around Yusei for a long time, his company wasn't suffocating at all. He was good at just existing, working quietly with Yusei on their latest project, or sitting near one another in silence, Bruno charging himself while Yusei read a book.

It was a night like that tonight; there had been an auto-show that Jack was making at guest appearance at in the convention center near the security building, and they had been planning to go and check out the motorcycles there were being showcased there. Unfortunately, winter had decided to up its game just at midday when they'd been ready to leave, and within an hour, a foot of snow had piled up on the ground.

They'd cancelled their plans – it was a two day event, and if things had cleared up enough by tomorrow, they'd try again. As it was, they'd stayed in all day, working on their own bike until Bruno stopped Yusei and told him he could hear his stomach rumbling.

"Ah… I didn't notice," Yusei nodded his head in a shallow bow of apology. Now that Bruno mentioned it, the hunger pangs were suddenly kicking in. "I guess I should make dinner."

"I'll help," Bruno offered, already undoing his overall and removing his gloves.

It wasn't the first time they'd cooked together in the couple of weeks since Bruno had arrived, and Yusei was always amazed by how seamlessly they could work around one another in the kitchen. Despite Bruno's clumsiness (he had dropped the occasional egg and there had been an incident with a knife landing very close to his toes) they could work together, preparing a decent meal without having to exchange a word. Neither of them could cook to the extent of whipping up a gourmet meal, but they were both competent cooks).

After dinner, Bruno plugged himself in to charge, and Yusei curled up on the couch next to him, feet tucked neatly beneath his own body to keep them warm as he pored over an electronics catalogue.

"It's still snowing," Bruno pointed out the window where the wind blew flurries of snowflakes against the glass. "Do you think it'll stop by tomorrow?"

"I hope so." Yusei let the catalogue flop into his lap, peering out into the night. "I don't like the cold."

"Want a blanket? I'm almost charged. I can get you one if you like."

Yusei graced him with a smile. "It's fine. You're actually keeping me warm. Your skin always gets so hot while you're charging." He watched in intrigue as Bruno's face slowly grew bright red. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, haha…" Bruno wrung his hands, and if the embarrassment hadn't been evident on his face, it would have been in his laughter. "I was going to offer to warm you up if you liked, but it sounds… well… you know… it's too…"

"I don't mind." Yusei stopped him in his tracks. He edged closer, until their thighs and shoulders were touching. "Like this, right? I won't take it the wrong way, so don't worry. It's not as if I mind getting close to my friends."

Bruno's face remained red. "Okay. I'm just… I'm programmed to consider boundaries, and since you said you didn't want a relationship… well, I'm not sure what you classify as 'relationship' behavior, so I didn't want to make any assumptions."

"Bruno." Yusei didn't bother to hide his amusement. "If you do something I don't like, I'll tell you. It's that simple." He shifted his knee, bumping it against Bruno's leg playfully.

Once Bruno finished charging, his temperature slowly returned to normal, but by that time Yusei had long since fallen asleep on his shoulder. Bruno didn't have the heart to wake him. Maybe he didn't want to.

It was past midnight when Yusei's eyes finally fluttered open. Bruno's head was resting on top of his, and his soft, rhythmic breathing let Yusei know he'd switched to his power-saving 'sleep-mode'. Yusei's arm had managed to curl around Bruno's waist of its own accord while he'd been napping.

He chuckled under his breath. They probably looked like a couple. Jack would undoubtedly see red if he saw them like this…

The small smile that had been on Yusei's face for a moment quickly faded. Jack… he'd been avoiding thinking about him – or seeing him, for that matter – since he'd overheard the conversation in the kitchen. It wasn't that he found Jack's feelings off-putting; he just didn't know what to do about them. Of course from the sound of it, those feelings hadn't been a recent development, and so as long as Yusei didn't let on that he knew, Jack would continue behaving around him the same as he always had.

The issue was, Yusei didn't know if _he _could continue acting the same. Having grown up together, any small change in behavior, like not being able to meet one another's eyes or fidgeting too much, would immediately be noticed and possibly questioned. As he'd told Bruno the other week, he and Jack had known each other a long time, almost their entire lives.

Yusei wondered just how much of that time Jack had spent hiding those feelings from him. Martha had mentioned how Jack had never been subtle as a teenager. Had it started all the way back then? That was such a long time to conceal a crush.

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft sigh into his hair, and Bruno shifted slightly in his sleep, the tip of his nose brushing the rim of Yusei's ear.

Yusei wondered for a brief moment if Bruno was dreaming, then mentally shook his head. No. That hardly seemed practical. The point of a power-save mode was to shut down as many processes as possible and, true to its name, to save power. What purpose would dreaming have to a robot, anyway?

He yawned and wriggled a bit, trying to loosen his stiff limbs. Shouldn't fall asleep on the couch, Yusei decided. Not if he wanted his neck in working order tomorrow, anyway.

"Bruno…" Yusei whispered, jostling the robot softly. "Bruno, wake up."

"Huh?" Bruno sounded a bit sluggish, his systems struggling to resume properly. "Oh… sorry. I went to sleep on you."

"It's no problem. We should go and do it in a more appropriate place, though. I can already feel a crick in my neck."

"I'm going to assume you mean to our own separate beds," Bruno joked.

"Yeah. Though it's cold enough to share." Yusei's body trembled with an appropriately timed shiver.

Bruno rubbed his hands up and down the sleeves of Yusei's arms. "Let's go before you freeze."

"Right." They untangled themselves from each other. Yusei got up and stretched his arms and legs. "Well, good night."

"Night."

It had been a long time since he'd spent a day apart from Bruno, Yusei thought. He'd had him for almost a month now, but somehow it felt like they'd been living together for much longer. He tried not to think too much about the fact that in just over another two months' time, he'd be sending Bruno back to Clear Mind industries. But then, he'd known that from the beginning. He'd been prepared.

Today would be their first whole day apart, and when he'd mentioned this to Crow, Crow had laughed and told Yusei that he and Bruno were like a pair of newlyweds. Yusei had merely smiled. It wasn't like that; he just hadn't wanted to leave Bruno until he was settled in, and the fact that they both lived and now worked together meant that it was inevitable they were in one another's company so much of the time.

Not this time, though. Jack had, in an indirect Jack-sort-of-way, complained to Yusei that they hadn't spent any time together recently (or, in Jack's words, he wanted Yusei's opinion on something, and if Yusei could stand being apart from Bruno for a moment and 'actually meeting face-to-face for once' then could he come out with him this Sunday, please) and he wanted to see him. Alone – Jack had expressly made it clear that he did _not _want Bruno tagging along, and Bruno assured Yusei that he had things to do, and wouldn't cut off his own foot or burn the house down while he was gone.

And so, that's how Yusei found himself out with Jack, at Jack's favorite coffee shop, a glass of (regularly priced) milk in front of him and a cup of outlandishly expensive coffee in front of Jack.

"So… what did you want my opinion on?" Yusei eventually asked after they'd done nothing but make small talk for 15minutes straight.

Jack cleared his throat behind a hand, only to down a gulp of coffee right afterwards. He was stalling. Yusei could tell.

"The waitress." Jack eventually said, "The girl. What do you think?"

Yusei glanced at the young brunette who'd served them their drinks with a flushed face and starry eyes, her gaze on Jack the whole time before she'd scuttled off at top speed with her tray clutched to her chest.

"I think she's very interested in you," Yusei told him. "Why?"

"Well, I already know that," Jack replied, exasperation heavy in his voice. "It's not as if she tries to hide it. I meant, what do you think of her? Is it a good idea? Mikage was too controlling, Carly was so clingy I could barely breathe… I don't need another relationship like that."

Yusei eyed the girl again. She was desperately trying to pretend she wasn't staring at their table.

"I'm not exactly an expert on girls or relationships, Jack. If this is what you wanted my opinion on, you'd have been better off if I _had _brought Bruno along. He's programmed to know this stuff."

When Jack just kept looking at him sullenly, Yusei sighed in defeat.

"But she seems shy," he continued. "So unless her personality completely flips once she's seeing someone, I doubt she's going to be controlling. I can't tell about clingy, but I don't think she'd be as vocal about it as Carly. So maybe she'll know when to back down."

Jack nodded in satisfaction. "Good. That's what I wanted to know."

Yusei studied Jack as he sipped his coffee, eyes closed as if it would give him the full benefit of the flavors and aromas of his drink. This was the first time they'd spent any extensive time alone since Yusei's discovery at the orphanage (not, of course, because he was avoiding Jack, but just through circumstance) and it amazed him how very casually Jack was behaving around him. Despite the topic of their conversation being focused on romance, it was no different to his usual behavior around Yusei, though supposedly he'd had time to perfect an act – or maybe this _was _how he acted around someone he had romantic feelings for, and Yusei had just come to view it as normal after all the years they'd spent together.

Still, Jack was talking to him about a potential relationship with another person, which Yusei found odd. Or maybe not. Whatever one of them may have felt for the other, they were friends first, and friends talked to one another about that kind of thing. Anyway, from the sound of it, Jack had practically given up on Yusei.

He felt a tug in his chest; he didn't like the idea of that – giving up without trying. It wasn't like Jack to do that, he usually tackled things head on, and Yusei didn't want to be the only thing in his life that Jack treated differently.

But then again, if he ever confessed, how would Yusei respond? 'I've never thought about you like that before' was the most honest answer he could give, but that was neither returning nor rejecting his feelings.

In fact…

Yusei's gaze swept over Jack, appraising the blond curl of his eyelashes and his skin, pale like marble; his strong jaw that reflected his stubborn and head-strong personality and his roman nose that gave his face a hint of the nobility that he had at heart, if not by blood.

Yeah. Now that he thought about it, Yusei hadn't even considered the idea of whether he could ever return Jack's feelings or not.

"…staring at me like that?" Yusei tuned back in just as Jack finished speaking.

"I'm sorry. What was that?"

Jack gave him a strange look. "I asked why you were staring at me like that."

Yusei didn't like lying, and so he rarely did it, but it wasn't unknown for him to evade the truth. "Sorry, I was caught up in my thoughts."

Fortunately, Jack was too straight-forward of a person to even think to pry about what Yusei was thinking about, and shrugged the whole thing off immediately once he got his answer.

Yusei did his best not to stare at him for the rest of their outing. But it was difficult. To say the least.


End file.
